For Better- But Mostly Worst
by melodicSiren
Summary: Things have changed, but an odd group seem to find themselves together. Valve, Cain, Gatlocke and Noface don't know what to do with themselves after the Cure Event, and find a routine in being together. A prologue to a drabble series about their daily lives of the four villains trying to live together without destroying anything (most of the time).


[AN: Just a prologue into a possible drabble series (unless it just stays as a sort of epilogue). Tell me what you think? Kind critiques are fine! ]

The cure event changed a few things, but not everything. There were a lot less EVOs. The event not only cured the ailing, but seemed to tame the remaining nanites, making them less prone to going active. Rex was still around, patching up the small cases here and there.

The four who had been trapped in the shields were freed during the event- the nanites powering the machine having been turned off. Most of the time they seemed to have gone their separate ways. Gatlock went back to pirating in his usual flamboyant way. Cain moved on to being a mercenary for hire, since there weren't really any EVOs to fight anymore. Noface (because he kept the name- he could scarcely remember his previous life) was cured. He became a spy, finding that he was good at stealth and planning. And Valve… unless he was out on his bike, he stayed home most of the time. His health wasn't the best, so quite often he could be found in his room, meditating or just reading.

Despite all this they had created a strange sort of bond while they were trapped and when they were working together. Which was why, if someone paid enough attention, they would notice that most of their actions seemed rather localized. Oh they traveled for work sometimes, but quite often they could be found around home.

They argued a lot, many fights escalating to physical violence. Despite this they looked out for each other, sometimes getting violent for the sake of someone else in the 'family'. Their apartment was spacious, paid for with the excessive money that was made from their under-handed professions, and allowing them their own space when they needed to be alone.

Valve's room was the most serene in the flat, and the others sometimes went there when they were stressed. Gatlock's room was a mess, unsurprisingly; Cluttered with clothes, stolen goods, comic books and funny little trinkets. The room that looked the most normal was Noface's- so long as you never looked in the crawl space in the closet. Not even the others knew about his secret room where he did most of his research for his jobs and kept his files. But he was still a teen, with teenage interests, movies and games organized on shelves and posters on the walls. The room covered in guns and an assortment of other weapons belonged to Cain obviously. The smallish armory aside, the room was quite plain, just a bed and an end table to hold a lamp, along with a few books most of which were about weapons.

Most of their time was spent in the living room, playing cards, video games or quarrelling over the TV remote. They seemed to fall into rather domestic roles around the home. Cain became somewhat of a father figure to the two younger (or childish) members of their strange crew, often the one to break up fights, if only to keep them from breaking anything (or so he said). But when Noface would wake up in the middle of the night, peeking into Cain's room after a nightmare from the first days in 'The Bug Jar', Cain would get up and practically drag him back to his room and get him back into his bed, looking away and gruffly telling him to go to sleep because "no dumb EVO is gonna get ya while Hunter Cain's here".

Gatlock seemed like he was trying to be the big brother to Noface, though most of the time he was the one getting chewed out by his younger associate. He had his moments though, when he would let the excitability drop, and try to help someone through a problem, though often he bounced back into his ways near the end of the conversation, coming up with wild and irrational ideas.

Noface was the youngest of the group, but he was usually the quietest, so used to not being able to talk that he forgot that he could, or preferred to use other methods of communication. Such as throwing a heavy object at Gatlock's face, sparking another fight that Cain would have to try and stop (or possibly get involved in if the mood struck him).

Valve had a different role, something like an uncle or grandfather. He was usually the voice of reason in the house, giving the best advice (usually) and was the best at calming people down. However, he was just as volatile as the rest of them, getting into arguments with the others over sports or what-have-you. Although, because of his bad health, the others weren't super keen on really brawling with him and backed off, letting him win most of the time (which sometimes also made him mad, not wanting to be treated delicately).

They had their ups, and a lot of downs; but they were all they had and that was enough.


End file.
